Montenegro
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Five-Year Review: State Party Montenegro was among the first 30 ratifications that triggered the convention’s entry into force on 1 August 2010. It views existing legislation is adequate to enforce the convention’s provisions. Montenegro has participated in all of the convention’s meetings and has elaborated its views on several important issues relating to the interpretation and implementation of the convention.
Montenegro submitted its initial transparency report for the convention in 2011, confirming it has not used or produced cluster munitions. It completed the destruction of a stockpile of 353 cluster munitions and 51,891 submunitions in October 2010 and has not retained any for training or research.
Policy
The Republic of Montenegro signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified on 25 January 2010. It was among the first 30 ratifications that triggered the convention’s entry into force on 1 August 2010.
Montenegro has reported that its existing law is adequate to enforce the convention’s provisions.[1] According to Article 9 of the country’s constitution, international treaties ratified by Montenegro are an “integral part of the domestic legislation, and have supremacy over domestic legislation and are directly implemented when dealing with issues differently than domestic legislation.”[2]
Montenegro submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 27 January 2011 and provided annual updated reports since, most recently in April 2015.[3]
Montenegro participated actively in the Oslo Process that led to the creation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[4]
Montenegro engages in the work of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It has participated in all of the convention’s Meetings of States Parties, including the Fifth Meeting of States Parties in San José, Costa Rica in September 2014. It has attended all of the convention’s intersessional meetings in Geneva, most recently in June 2015. Montenegro attended a mine action symposium in Biograd, Croatia on 27–29 April 2015, which included discussion on cluster munitions.
At the Fifth Meeting of States Parties, Montenegro urged greater financial and technical assistance for clearance efforts and noted the ongoing work to clear cluster munition remnants dating from the 1999 conflict that contaminate its territory with the help of Norwegian People’s Aid and in cooperation with the Regional Centre for Underwater Demining.[5]
Montenegro voted in favor of four Human Rights Council resolutions in 2014 and 2015 that condemned the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently on 2 July 2015.[6] It has voted in favor of UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions condemning the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently Resolution 69/189 on 18 December 2014, which expressed “outrage” at the continued use.[7]
Interpretive issues
Montenegro has elaborated its views on several important issues relating to the interpretation and implementation of the convention. On the prohibition on assistance with prohibited acts in joint military operations with states not party, Montenegro has elaborated its understanding that “the participation in the planning or conducting of operations, exercises or any other military activities by the armed forces of Montenegro, or by any of its nationals, if carried out in conjunction with armed forces of the non-State Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which engage in activities prohibited under the Convention, does not in any way imply an assistance, encouragement or inducement as referred to in subparagraph 1(c) of the Convention.”[8] Montenegro has also stated that it “does not intend to invest in the production of cluster munitions.”[9] Montenegro has not yet expressed its views on the matters of foreign stockpiling or transit of cluster munitions.
Montenegro is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.
Use, production, and transfer
Montenegro is not known to have used cluster munitions, but cluster munitions were used by NATO forces in air strikes on Serbian and Montenegrin military positions during the Kosovo conflict in 1999. In 2012, a court case confirmed evidence of at least one instance of Yugoslav army use of cluster munitions on Montenegrin territory in 1999.[10]
Montenegro has declared that there are no cluster munition production facilities in the country.[11]
Stockpile destruction
Montenegro inherited a stockpile of cluster munitions upon the dissolution of Serbia and Montenegro.[12] It completed the destruction of the entire stockpile of 353 BL755 cluster bombs containing a total of 51,891 Mk1 submunitions on 5 October 2010, concluding a two-year destruction process conducted near the town of Nikšićas as part of a technical agreement with the United States for the disposal of surplus weapons and ammunition.[13]
Montenegro has not retained any cluster munitions for training and research purposes.[14]
[1] Since 2013 Article 7 report, Montenegro has reported that the “provisions proscribed under the Convention are completely included into Montenegrin criminal legislature.” Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form A, 31 March 2013. In the January 2011 report, it declared that after ratification the convention “became an integral part of the criminal legislation of Montenegro.” Convention on Cluster Munition Article 7 Report, Form A, 27 January 2011.
[2] Montenegro also cited two articles from the Statute Book of Montenegro as relevant to implementation of the convention: Article 432 (“Use of unlawful means of combat”) and Article 433 (“Illegal production of weapons forbidden to be used”), both of which contain penal sanctions. Response to Monitor questionnaire by Maja Bošković, Third Secretary, Department for UN and Other International Organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, 16 April 2010.
[3] Various time periods are covered by reports provided on 27 January 2011 (from 1 August 2010 to 27 January 2011), in March 2013 (from 30 April 2012 to 31 March 2013), 16 April 2014 for (calendar year 2013), and 21 April 2015 (calendar year 2014). Montenegro did not provide a report in 2012 for the period from February 2011 to April 2012.
[4] For details on Montenegro’s policy and practice regarding cluster munitions through early 2009, see Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), pp. 121–122.
[5] Statement of Montenegro, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fifth Meeting of States Parties, San José, 4 September 2014.
[6] See, “The grave and deteriorating human rights and humanitarian situation in the Syrian Arab Republic,” Human Rights Council Resolution A/HRC/29/L.4, 2 July 2015; “The continuing grave deterioration in the human rights and humanitarian situation in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UN Human Rights Council Resolution A/HRC/RES/28/20, 27 March 2015; “The continuing grave deterioration in the human rights and humanitarian situation in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UN Human Rights Council Resolution A/HRC/RES/26/23, 27 June 2014; and “The continuing grave deterioration of the human rights and humanitarian situation in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UN Human Rights Council Resolution A/HRC/RES/25/23, 28 March 2014.
[7] “Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution A/RES/69/189, 18 December 2014. Montenegro voted in favor of similar resolutions on 15 May and 18 December 2013.
[8] Letter No. 0715-42/3-2 from Amb. Milorad Šćepanović, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration to Mary Wareham, Senior Advisor, Arms Division, Human Rights Watch (HRW), 4 May 2011. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration expressed this view previously to the Monitor in April 2010, stating that “participation in planning or implementation of operations, exercise or other military activities by the armed forces of Monte Negro, performed in joint actions with armed forces of states not parties to the CCM, undertaking in activities prohibited by the CCM, are by itself not assistance, encouragement or initiative [sic]in accordance with Article 1, par (c) of the Convention.” Response to Monitor questionnaire by Maja Bošković, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, 16 April 2010.
[9] Letter No. 0715-42/3-2 from Amb. Šćepanović, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration to Mary Wareham, HRW, 4 May 2011.
[10] In November 2012, a long-standing court case awarded €85,000 in compensation to the Dacić family, whose son, Senad, was killed in the village of Besnik near the Kosovo border on 26 March 1999, a day after BL755 bombs were used in the area around Besnik and the neighboring village of Njegusi. The government had claimed the bombs were dropped by NATO aircraft, but written evidence submitted by the Ministry of the Interior Court, as well as the testimony of former police chief Šemsa Dedeić, unequivocally established that the bombs were dropped by planes of the Yugoslav Armed Forces. According to Dedeić, the pilots were supposed to drop the payloads in Kosovo, but they were ordered back and dumped the munitions before they returned. Maja Boričić, “Država da isplati 85.000 eura porodici dječaka stradalog 1999” (“State to pay 85,000 euros to family of boy killed in 1999”), Vijesti, 7 November 2012; and Maja Boričić, “Avioni Vojske Jugoslavije bacili kasetne bombe na selo kod Rožaja” (“Yugoslav airplanes dropped cluster bombs on village of Rožaje”), Vijesti, 5 October 2012.
[11] Convention on Cluster Munition Article 7 Reports, Form E, 16 April 2014; 31 March 2013; and 27 January 2011.
[12] During the Berlin Conference on the Destruction of Cluster Munitions, Montenegro confirmed that it had 353 BL755 CBU in its stockpiles from the former Yugoslav People’s Army. Statement of Montenegro, Berlin Conference on the Destruction of Cluster Munitions, 25 June 2009. See also South Eastern and Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, “Ammunition Technical Assessment of Montenegro (First Edition),” 4 March 2007, p. 39. The BL755 cluster bombs were produced by the United Kingdom.
[13] For a description of the destruction process, see CMC, Cluster Munition Monitor 2011 (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, October 2011), pp. 138–140. See also Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form B, 27 January 2011.
[14] Convention on Cluster Munition Article 7 Reports, Form C, 16 April 2014; 31 March 2013; and 27 January 2011.
Mine Ban Policy
Policy
Montenegro deposited its instrument of succession to the Mine Ban Treaty on 23 October 2006, becoming a State Party on 1 April 2007.[1] Montenegro has not enacted new legislation to implement the Mine Ban Treaty, but instead relies on existing laws. Montenegro’s Article 7 reports have all declared that the requirements of Article 9 (national implementation measures) have been fully implemented.[2]
Montenegro attends meetings of the treaty semi-regularly. It did not attend the Third Review Conference in Maputo in June 2014. However, Montenegro did attend the Seventeenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in November 2018, where it provided a statement during the general exchange of views.[3] Montenegro also attended the intersessional meetings in Geneva in May 2019.
Montenegro is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons, including Amended Protocol II on landmines and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war. Montenegro is also party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Use, production, transfer, stockpiling, and destruction
In 2007, Montenegro reaffirmed earlier reports that the former state of Serbia and Montenegro did not produce any type of landmine after 1990.[4] Montenegro has also confirmed that there are no facilities for mine production on its territory.[5] In the past, the former Serbia and Montenegro stated several times that mine exports halted in 1990.[6]
On 16 May 2007, Montenegro and Serbia completed the destruction of the last of their stockpiled antipersonnel mines in advance of their respective deadlines of 1 April 2011 and 1 March 2008.[7] In total, Montenegro transferred 199,387 mines to Serbia for destruction, including approximately 40,000 after independence.[8]
Montenegro has not retained any mines for training purposes.[9]
[1] On 3 June 2006, Montenegro ended its union with Serbia and became independent. It was accepted as a member of the UN on 28 June 2006. The former state of Serbia and Montenegro had acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty in September 2003.
[2] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Reports, Form A, October 2007, 2008 (for calendar year 2007), and 2009 (for calendar year 2008). The 2008 and 2009 reports include excerpts from the Criminal Code of Montenegro (2003 and 2004) on “use of forbidden means of combat” and the “manufacture of forbidden weapons,” citing relevant penal sanctions. The 2009 report also refers to Article 25 of the “Law on Army of Montenegro,” which states that the military must function in the framework of international law and that military personnel must be equipped in accordance with international conventions. In reports submitted since, Montenegro has reported no changes.
[3] Statement of Montenegro, Mine Ban Treaty Seventeenth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 26 November 2018.
[4] Interview with Vice-Admiral Dragan Samardzic, Deputy Chief of General Staff, Armed Forces of Montenegro, Podgorica, 15 March 2007; and see also, Landmine Monitor Report 2006, p. 634.
[5] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form E, October 2007; and Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2007), Form E.
[6] Letter from Maj.-Gen. Dobrosav Radovanovic, Assistant Minister of Defense, Sector of International Military Cooperation and Defense Policy, Ministry of Defense, 29 January 2003; and see also, Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 789.
[7] After its independence, Montenegro continued to participate in the stockpile destruction process initiated by the former Serbia and Montenegro in 2005 as a project of the Ministry of Defense and the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA). For details, see, Landmine Monitor Report 2007, pp. 522–523.
[8] Email from Graham Goodrum, Technical Officer, NAMSA, 25 June 2007. This included the following antipersonnel mines: 109,003 PMR-2; 42,081 PMA-3; 20,926 PMA-1; 20,448 PMA-2; 5,929 PROM-1; and 1,000 PMR-3. The mines came from army stockpiles in Danilovgrad, Nikšić, Opatovo, Petrovići, Podgorica, and Sasovići.
[9] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form D, October 2007; and Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2007), Form D.
Mine Action
|
Treaty status |
|
|
Convention on Cluster Munitions |
State Party. Article 4 deadline: 1 August 2020 |
|
Extent of contamination as of end 2017 |
|
|
Landmines |
No landmine contamination |
|
Cluster munition remnants |
1.72km2 CHA and SHA |
|
Other ERW contamination |
Heavy contamination |
|
Mine action management |
|
|
National mine action management actors |
The Directorate for Emergency Situations, established by the Ministry of Internal Affairs |
|
Mine action legislation |
National mine action legislation being drafted as of March 2018[1] |
|
Mine action standards |
A rule book on the destruction of unexploded ordnance (UXO) developed 2018 |
|
Operators in 2017 |
Police are responsible for explosive ordnance disposal (EOD)—ERW other than cluster munition remnants |
|
Land release in 2017 |
|
|
Cluster munition remnants |
None |
|
Other ERW |
Results not available |
|
Progress |
|
|
Cluster munition clearance |
Remaining cluster munition contamination to be cleared by Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) starting in 2018 with funding secured from Norway |
Notes: CHA = Confirmed Hazardous Area; SHA = Suspected Hazardous Area; ERW = Explosive Remnants of War.
Contamination
The Republic of Montenegro has estimated that just less than 1.72km2 of land contains cluster munition remnants, which remained at the same level as in 2016.[2] Areas suspected or confirmed to contain cluster munition remnants are located in two municipalities (Rožaje and Plav) and one urban municipality (Golubovic).[3] The contamination was identified by NPA in its detailed non-technical survey conducted between December 2012 and April 2013. During the survey, NPA made 87 polygons of suspected or confirmed hazardous areas across 11 locations in three municipalities. Contamination was found to affect five communities.[4]
Two suspected areas of cluster munition contamination in Plav municipality, namely at Bogajice and Murino, have still to be surveyed. NPA was prevented by snow from doing so during its 2012–2013 survey.[5] Montenegro has pledged to investigate the villages in Plav suspected to be contaminated with cluster munition remnants.[6]
Montenegro became contaminated with ERW, mainly UXO, as a result of conflicts during the break-up of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.[7] North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) air strikes in Montenegro between March and June 1999 included the use of 22 cluster munitions of four different types: AGM-154A JSOW guided missiles, BL755s, CBU-87/Bs, and Mk-20 Rockeyes. These scattered a total of some 4,000 submunitions of four different types: BLU-97A/B, BL755, MK-1, and Mk118.[8] In addition, there is cluster munition contamination in Rožaje, which is the result of the dumping of cluster munitions by the Yugoslav army.[9]
Cluster munition contamination in Montenegro is said to impede the safe use of land for agriculture, harvesting of forest produce, and use of wood by the timber industry.[10]
Other explosive remnants of war
Montenegro is also heavily contaminated by other ERW, with items of UXO discovered daily throughout the country, on land as well as in rivers and the sea.[11] The NATO Science for Peace and Security (SPS) project, which was launched in Montenegro in 2014 to provide the UXO clearance team of the Directorate for Emergency Situations with technical capacity and training in the detection and destruction of UXO,ended in December 2017.[12]
Program Management
The Directorate for Emergency Situations, established in 2006 by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, is responsible for mine action in Montenegro, performing the role of a national mine action center.[13] Prior to 2017, due to a lack of human resources and equipment, the role of the national mine action center had previously been undertaken by the Regional Center for Divers’ Training and Underwater Demining (RCUD).[14]
The Department for UXO within the Directorate for Emergency Situations has only five staff, who are primarily dedicated to clearance of UXO other than submunitions, which comprises the bulk of explosive remnants contamination in Montenegro.[15] Due to lack of funding, responsibility for EOD has remained with the police.[16]
The NATO Science for Peace and Security (SPS) project, which was launched in Montenegro in 2014 to provide the UXO clearance team of the Directorate for Emergency Situations with technical capacity and training in the detection and destruction of UXO,ended in December 2017.[17]
Legislation and standards
Montenegro has requested international assistance to meet the demands of the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS), as well as for capacity-building (training, equipment, vehicles) and ERW clearance.[18]
In March 2018, the Directorate for Emergency Situationsreported that it had prepared a rule book on the destruction of UXO and was currently working on drafting national mine action legislation.[19]
Quality management
In December 2017, NPA organized a workshop in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior of Montenegro’s Directorate for Emergency Situations, on the “Application of standard operating procedures for technical survey and clearance of areas contaminated with cluster munition remnants with special emphasis on internal and external quality control.”
The aim of the workshop was to familiarize employees of the Directorate for Emergency Situations with standing operating procedures relating to technical survey and clearance of cluster munition remnants and to train them on how to undertake quality control of those operations. The five participants from the Directorate for Emergency Situations successfully completed the NPA training.[20] The Directorate for Emergency Management, under the Ministry of Interior, will be responsible for external quality monitoring and issuing of quality control (QC) certificates in operations on cluster munition-contaminated area.[21]
Operators
International clearance operator, NPA, was expecting to begin cluster munition survey and clearance operations in 2018, with the aim of helping Montenegro meet its Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 4 deadline as soon as possible.NPA plans to deploy one team, comprising six clearance personnel, in addition to a medic, team leader, quality assistance (QA) officer, site manager, operations manager, and program manager.[22]
Land Release
No land release operations took place in 2017.[23]
Article 4 Compliance
Under Article 4 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Montenegro is required to destroy all cluster munition remnants in areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 August 2020.
Funding for the remaining cluster munition survey and clearance was secured in May 2018, from the government of Norway, to be conducted by NPA.If cluster munition survey and clearance operations commence swiftly and without undue delay, Montenegro may still be in a position to complete clearance of the remaining cluster munition-contaminated area by its Convention on Cluster Munitions deadline.
Except for destruction of a very small number of submunitions discovered during construction work and project-based survey, there has been no planned clearance of cluster munition remnants in Montenegro in the last five years.
The Monitor acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review (www.mineactionreview.org), which has conducted the primary mine action research in 2018 and shared all its country-level landmine reports (from “Clearing the Mines 2018”) and country-level cluster munition reports (from “Clearing Cluster Munition Remnants 2018”) with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.
[1] Email from Milovan Joksimović, Head of the Department for UXO, Directorate for Emergency Situations, Ministry of Internal Affairs, 28 March 2018.
[2] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2017), Form F; and email from Milovan Joksimović, Directorate for Emergency Situations, 28 March 2018.
[3] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2017), Form F; email from Milovan Joksimović, Directorate for Emergency Situations, 28 March 2018; and interview, Podgorica, 15 May 2017.
[4] NPA, “Cluster Munition Remnants in Montenegro,” July 2013, p. 26.
[5] Ibid.; and interview with Milovan Joksimović, Directorate for Emergency Situations, Podgorica, 15 May 2017; and email, 28 March 2018.
[6] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2017), Form G.
[7] Interview with Veselin Mijajlovic, Regional Center for Divers’ Training and Underwater Demining (RCUD), Bijela, 14 March 2007.
[8] NPA, “Cluster Munition Remnants in Montenegro,” July 2013, p. 21.
[9] Interview with Milovan Joksimović, Directorate for Emergency Situations, Podgorica, 15 May 2017.
[10] Email from Milovan Joksimović, Directorate for Emergency Situations, 28 March 2018.
[11] Interview with Milovan Joksimović, Directorate for Emergency Situations, Podgorica, 15 May 2017.
[12] NATO, “NATO tests Science for Peace and Security projects in Montenegro,” 4 November 2016; and email from Milovan Joksimović, Directorate for Emergency Situations, Podgorica, 28 March 2018.
[13] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2016); and interview with Milovan Joksimović, Directorate for Emergency Situations, Podgorica, 15 May 2017.
[14] Email from Veselin Mijajlovic, RCUD, 29 July 2012; and Sluzbeni list RCG (Official Gazette of Montenegro), No. 66, pp. 28–32.
[15] Email from Milovan Joksimović, Directorate for Emergency Situations, 28 March 2018.
[16] Ibid.
[17] NATO, “NATO tests Science for Peace and Security projects in Montenegro,” 4 November 2016; and email from Milovan Joksimović, Directorate for Emergency Situations, Podgorica, 28 March 2018.
[18] Letter from the Permanent Mission of Montenegro to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva, “Information from the Ministry of Interior of Montenegro – in context of support for the Mine Action Center,” Ref. CCM/4-1, May 2017.
[19] Email from Milovan Joksimović, Directorate for Emergency Situations, 28 March 2018.
[20] Email from Goran Šehić, Deputy Programme Manager, NPA Bosnia and Herzegovina, 3 July 2018.
[21] Ibid.; and email from Milovan Joksimović, Directorate for Emergency Situations, 4 July 2018.
[22] Email from Jonas Zachrisson, Programme Manager, NPA Bosnia and Herzegovina, 21 June 2018.
[23] Email from Milovan Joksimović, Directorate for Emergency Situations, 28 March 2018.
Victim Assistance
Victim assistance commitments
The Republic of Montenegro is responsible for landmine survivors, cluster munition victims, and survivors of other explosive remnants of war (ERW). Montenegro has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty and has victim assistance obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Montenegro ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 2 November 2009.
The total number of survivors living in Montenegro is not known; in 2004, 260 mine/ERW survivors were recorded as living in Montenegro.[1] The Monitor recorded another 10 mine/ERW survivors from incidents since 2004.[2]
Victim assistance coordination and participation
Montenegro designated contacts within the ministries of health, and labor and social welfare as victim assistance focal points for the implementation of Article 5 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions; there is no specific victim assistance coordination mechanism.[3]
Montenegro has a Strategy for Integration of Persons with Disabilities 2016–2020,but NGOs reported that it was not being implemented effectively. Persons with physical disabilities had difficulty obtaining high-quality medical mobility devices as well as other orthopedic aids through health and social insurance.[4]
The ministries of health, labor and social welfare, education and sports, science, culture, and human and minority rights all have responsibilities for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. The Ministry of Health adopted a rulebook on indicators and methods of using medical rehabilitation in health institutions that performed specialized medical rehabilitation.The Law on Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities regulated the manner and procedure for exercising the right to the professional rehabilitation of persons with disabilities, measures and incentives for their employment, the way of financing, and other issues of importance for their employment.[5]
Montenegro had a Fund for Professional Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities, with six million euro for active employment measures. Montenegro has reported that mine/ERW survivors, including survivors of cluster submunitions, along with all victims of war, are entitled to free medical care and physical rehabilitation, including prosthetic limbs, through the national health insurance system. The law regulating the national health insurance system recognizes the category of victims of cluster munitions.Rehabilitation services are possible only for certain types of disability and mostly only provided as one-time assistance, immediately after the injury or treatment. A small number of persons with disabilities are able to access appropriate rehabilitation services for a longer period of time. Survey of persons with disabilities shows that more than half (as many as 57%) do not use physical rehabilitation services due to limited availability or because they are not entitled to it by law.[6]
According to the Association of Youth with Disabilities, the right to medical and technical assistive devices is limited for persons with disabilities in Montenegro. The Association reported that procedures are problematic and take too long as do the times between devices being granted. The list of state-approved devices is very restricted and persons with disabilities are not able to choose suppliers because the medical fund solely maintains a contract with the company Ruda Montenegero, but without public tender procedures.[7]
Survivors may be entitled to a monthly pension and other benefits, based on the degree of their disability, on equal terms as other persons with disabilities.[8]
[1] Serbia and Montenegro, Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form J, 25 October 2004.
[2] According to data in the Monitor’s global casualty database for 2004–2014.
[3] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2017), Form H.
[4] United States (US) Department of State, “2017 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Montenegro,” 20 April 2018.
[5] Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), “Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities considers the initial report of Montenegro,” 18 August 2017.
[6] Report on harmonization of legislative and institutional framework in Montenegro with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) with recommendations (Izveštaj o usklađenosti zakonodavnog i institucionalnog okvira u Crnoj Gori sa UN Konvencijom o pravima osoba sa invaliditetom i preporukama o harmonizaciji), Savez udruženja paraplegičara Crne Gore, 28 May 2014.
[7] “Barometar: Minus,” Monitor (Magazine), Podgorica, Issue 1249, 26 August 2016, p. 6.
[8] Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2014), Form H.
Casualties and Victim Assistance
Victim assistance commitments
The Republic of Montenegro is responsible for landmine survivors, cluster munition victims, and survivors of other explosive remnants of war (ERW). Montenegro has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty and has victim assistance obligations under the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Montenegro ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 2 November 2009.
Casualties
There were no mine/ERW casualties identified in Montenegro in 2015. The last mine/ERW casualties were reported in July 2012, when six casualties were identified in one incident with an antivehicle mine; four adults and two children were injured while traveling in a car near the city of Gusinje, close to the border with Albania. One of the adults, a woman, was Albanian.[1]
Prior to 2012, the last casualties reported in Montenegro were in 2008, when a border police officer was injured when he drove over a landmine and, in a separate incident, a child was injured by a hand grenade he found in a wall in Podgorica.[2]
The Monitor identified 18 mine/ERW casualties (four killed and 14 injured) between 1999 and December 2013. This included seven children. Adult casualties included a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Albanian citizen (in 2012).[3]
Cluster munition casualties
At least nine cluster munition casualties have been reported for Montenegro.[4] Unexploded submunitions have caused four civilian casualties since their use in 1999. Another five casualties occurred during cluster munition strikes, of which at least four were civilians.[5] In 2013, Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), in cooperation with the Montenegrin Regional Centre for Underwater Demining, identified seven survivors of cluster munitions in Montenegro.[6]
In November 2012, the Montenegrin court system awarded €85,000 in compensation for pain and suffering to the family members of a boy who was killed by a cluster submunition in 1999.[7] The court ruled that the state of Montenegro failed in its obligation to “protect and guarantee the safety of the citizens” when it failed to “warn the citizens about the immediate danger to life and safety and to properly control the area in the given circumstances;” those circumstances included the presence of cluster munition remnants following bombing.[8]
Victim Assistance
The total number of survivors living in Montenegro is not known; in 2004, 260 mine/ERW survivors were recorded as living in Montenegro.[9] The Monitor recorded another 10 mine/ERW survivors from incidents since 2004.[10]
Victim assistance coordination and participation
Montenegro designated contacts within the ministries of health, and labor and social welfare as victim assistance focal points for the implementation of Article 5 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions; there is no specific victim assistance coordination mechanism.[11] In 2013, the government re-established the council on the rights of persons with disabilities within the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare. The then short-lived council had been abolished in 2011.[12] National NGOs criticized the placement of the council within the ministry, asserting that its lack of independence would limit its role and importance.[13]
The ministries of health, labor and social welfare, education and sports, science, culture, and human and minority rights all have responsibilities for protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. Montenegro has a Strategy for the Integration of Persons with Disabilities in Montenegro (2008–2016), adopted in compliance with the CRPD.[14] An action plan for implementing the strategy in 2014–2015 was adopted in March 2014, including specific targets to improve availability and access to services and programs such as healthcare, social protection, and professional rehabilitation, as well as to align policies and laws with the provisions of the CRPD.[15] An intergovernmental working group, which includes representatives of persons with disabilities, monitors the implementation of the strategy and its action plans.[16]
Service accessibility and effectiveness
Montenegro has reported that mine/ERW survivors, including survivors of cluster submunitions, along with all victims of war, are entitled to free medical care and physical rehabilitation, including prosthetic limbs, through the national health insurance system. The law regulating the national health insurance system recognizes the category of victims of cluster munitions. Rehabilitation services are possible only for certain types of disability and mostly only provided as one-time assistance, immediately after the injury or treatment. A small number of persons with disabilities are able to access appropriate rehabilitation services for a longer period of time. A survey of persons with disabilities shows that more than half (as many as 57%) do not use physical rehabilitation services due to limited availability or because they are not entitled to it by law.[17]
According to the Association of Youth with Disabilities the right to medical and technical assistive devices is limited for persons with disabilities in Montenegro. The Association reported that procedures are problematic and take too long as do the times between devices being granted. The list of state approved devices is very restricted and persons with disabilities are not able to choose between different suppliers. A variety of devices and high standard of quality guaranteed by the CPRD are not available. The law defines the possibility, but not the obligation for the national fund to conclude agreements with providers of rehabilitation services and assistive devices. Citizens do not have a choice in where they get prosthetic devices. The medical fund solely maintains a contract with the company Ruda Montegero, but without public tender procedures.[18]
Survivors may be entitled to a monthly pension and other benefits, based on the degree of their disability, on equal terms as other persons with disabilities.[19] A law passed in May 2013 severely cut benefits for persons with disabilities, eliminating the subsidies received by some persons with disabilities.[20]
Montenegro reported that the law does not discriminate against or among cluster munition victims, or between cluster munition victims and those who have suffered injuries or disabilities from other causes; differences in treatment are based only on medical, rehabilitative, psychological, or socio-economic needs of victims.[21] However, only persons with a category of disability higher than 70% are recognized by national legislation, raising concerns about discrimination between persons with disabilities. Discrimination is also present in the medical sector where healthcare is guaranteed, to a large extent, to children, but not adults, and to veterans with disabilities and civilian war victims, but not persons with other causes of disabilities.[22]
In 2015, unemployment remained a serious problem for persons with disabilities.[23] Significant prejudice among employers when it comes to employing persons with disabilities continued to impact economic integration of mine/ERW survivors.[24]
National laws and policies
Legislation required that public facilities be made accessible to persons with disabilities by September 2013, but a number of institutions remained inaccessible after the deadline.[25] Construction to make the parliament building accessible began in August 2015.[26] Access to buildings for persons with disabilities remained limited, including for education and medical facilities.[27]
It was reported that only 2% of persons with disabilities were employed in 2015.[28] Employers with between 20 and 50 employees must employ at least one person with disabilities, while persons with disabilities must make up at least 5% of employees at companies with more than 50 employees.[29] Many employers opted instead to make payment into the government fund for employment and professional rehabilitation of persons with disabilities. There were allegations that the use of those resources was not transparent, subsequently the majority of the funds were returned to the general government budget at the end of 2015.[30] Monitoring and penalties of provisions to increase employment of persons with disabilities remained weak and financial support paid to employers for employing persons with disabilities was insufficiently protected against misuse, according to the European Commission.[31]
A new law prohibiting discrimination against persons with disabilities was adopted in July 2015.[32] The text of the law as approved by the government differed significantly and contained weaker provisions that those in the text for public discussion during the drafting process. Civil society and disabled persons’ organizations (DPOs) made a public appeal to prevent the law from being rushed through with the so called expedient procedure, and without the involvement of persons with disabilities in further consultations.[33]
[1] Montenegrin Police, “Investigation completed on the spot explosion near the state border with excellent cooperation” (“Završen uviđaj na licu mjesta eksplozije u blizini državne granice, sa albanskom policijom ostvarena izuzetna saradnja”), 10 July 2012; M. Sekulovic, “Mini drove over a mine, more injured” (“Džip nagazio na minu, više povređenih”), Novsti (daily newspaper), 9 July 2012; and “The explosion at the Montenegrin-Albanian border” (“Eksplozija na crnogorsko-albanskoj granici”), Radio-television Serbia, 9 July 2012.
[2] ICBL, Landmine Monitor Report 2009: Toward a Mine-Free World (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada: October 2009).
[3] See previous reporting on the Monitor website.
[4] Cluster Munition Remnants in Montenegro: Non-technical Survey of Contamination and Impact (Podgorica: Regional Centre for Underwater Demining, Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), May 2013), p. 27.
[5] Ibid.; and Handicap International (HI), Circle of Impact: The Fatal Footprint of Cluster Munitions on People and Communities (Brussels: HI, May 2007), pp. 77–78.
[6] Including survivors of cluster munition strikes not included in the total of mine/ERW survivors. See, Cluster Munition Remnants in Montenegro: Non-technical Survey of Contamination and Impact (Podgorica: Regional Centre for Underwater Demining, NPA, May 2013), p. 27.
[7] “State to pay 85,000 euros to family of boy killed in 1999” (“Država da isplati 85.000 eura porodici dječaka stradalog 1999”), Vijesti (daily newspaper), 7 November 2012.
[8] As stated by Judge Mirjana Vlahovic, provided to the Monitor via email by Velija Muric, Attorney-at-law, Rozaje, Montengro, 25 February 2013. Translation by Jelena Vicentic, Coordinator, Assistance Advocacy Access-Serbia, 11 March 2013.
[9] Serbia and Montenegro, Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form J, 25 October 2004.
[10] According to data in the Monitor’s global casualty database for 2004–2014.
[11] Cluster Munition Convention Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2015), Form H.
[12] Report by the Commissioner of Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Visit to Montenegro 17 to 20 March 2014 (Strasbourg: Council of Europe, 23 June 2014), para. 83.
[13] United States (US) Department of State, “2013 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Montenegro,” Washington, DC, 27 February 2014.
[14] Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, “Information on Implementation of Action Plan for Realization of Strategy for Persons with Disabilities in Montenegro for 2010,” 27 April 2011.
[15] Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, “Strategy for Integration of Persons with Disabilities in Montenegro: Action Plan for the Period of 2014 and 2015,” March 2014.
[16] Report by the Commissioner of Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Visit to Montenegro 17 to 20 March 2014 (Strasbourg: Council of Europe, 23 June 2014), para. 83.
[17] Report on harmonization of legislative and institutional framework in Montenegro with the UNCRPD with recommendations (Izveštaj o usklađenosti zakonodavnog i institucionalnog okvira u Crnoj Gori sa UN Konvencijom o pravima osoba sa invaliditetom i preporukama o harmonizaciji), Savez udruženja paraplegičara Crne Gore, 28 May 2014.
[18] “Barometar: Minus,” Monitor (Magazine), Podgorica, Issue1249, 26 August 2016, p. 6.
[19] Cluster Munition Convention Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2014), Form H.
[20] US Department of State, “2013 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Montenegro,” Washington, DC, 27 February 2014.
[22] Report on harmonization of legislative and institutional framework in Montenegro with the UNCRPD with recommendations (Izveštaj o usklađenosti zakonodavnog i institucionalnog okvira u Crnoj Gori sa UN Konvencijom o pravima osoba sa invaliditetom i preporukama o harmonizaciji), Savez udruženja paraplegičara Crne Gore, 28 May 2014.
[23] US Department of State, “2015 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Montenegro,” Washington, DC, 13 April 2016.
[24] “Employers are showing resistance to the idea of employing PWD” (“Poslodavci imaju otpor da zaposle osobu s invaliditetom”), Vijesti, 18 January 2015.
[25] Report by the Commissioner of Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Visit to Montenegro 17 to 20 March 2014 (Strasbourg: Council of Europe, 23 June 2014), para. 86.
[26] European Commission, “Montenegro 2015 Progress Report,” 10 November 2015, p. 60.
[27] Dražen Đurašković, “Difficult to enter public institutions in a wheelchair” (“Invalidskim kolicima teško u javne ustanove”), Vijesti, 18 October 2014.
[28] US Department of State, “2015 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Montenegro,” Washington, DC, 13 April 2016.
[29] Montenegro, Intitial Report under Article 35 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 30 October 2015, p. 40.
[30] US Department of State, “2015 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Montenegro,” Washington, DC, 13 April 2016.
[31] European Commission, “Montenegro 2015 Progress Report,” 10 November 2015, p. 46.
[32] EC, “Montenegro 2015 Progress Report,” 10 November 2015, p. 60.
[33] “Initiative by the NGOs to prevent the Draft Law prohibiting discrimination of PWD to be passed in the expedient procedure” (“Inicijativa NVO da se Predlog Zakona o zabrani diskriminacije lica sa invaliditetom ne usvaja po skraćenom postupku”), Centar za građansko obrazovanje, 12 June 2015; and “Joint statement by the UMHCG and the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights” (“Zajedničko saopštenje UMHCG i Ministarstva za ljudska i manjinska prava”), 17 June 2015.